GARDENING CALENDAR

LYNN RAWE, COUNTY EXTENSION AGENT – HORTICULTURE

TEXAS COOPERATIVE EXTENSION

August 20, 2005

• Invite hummingbirds to your patio by surrounding it with firebush, salvia, hibiscus and dwarf Chinese trumpet creeper. To supplement their diet, hang a hummingbird feeder, but remember to change the sugar water every week. Use old liquid in a shallow dish for butterflies.
• Spider mites thrive in the heat – the hotter, the better. Control them with a miticide.
• Trim back annuals and perennials where spent blooms are going to seed. This will encourage new flushes of growth and renewed flower production.
• To prevent leaf-fungal problems, water flower beds only when the leaves will have time to dry off before night fall. Better yet, water only the soil and not the leaves.